Use of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in the diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19)

• Published in: Thorax Vol. 76; no. 1; p. 86
• Main Authors: Ryan, Daniel J, Toomey, Sinead, Madden, Stephen F, Casey, Michelle, Breathnach, Oscar S, Morris, Patrick G, Grogan, Liam, Branagan, Peter, Costello, Richard W, De Barra, Eoghan, Hurley, Killian, Gunaratnam, Cedric, McElvaney, Noel G, OBrien, Michael Emmet, Sulaiman, Imran, Morgan, Ross K, Hennessy, Bryan T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-01-2021
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breath Tests - methods; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 Testing - methods; Exhalation; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Reproducibility of Results; RNA, Viral - analysis; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; exhaled airway markers; viral infection; respiratory infection
• ISSN: 1468-3296
• DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-215705

False negatives from nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) using reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) in SARS-CoV-2 are high. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) contains lower respiratory droplets that may improve detection. We performed EBC RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 genes (E, S, N, ORF1ab) on NPS-positive (n=16) and NPS-negative/clinically positive COVID-19 patients (n=15) using two commercial assays. EBC detected SARS-CoV-2 in 93.5% (29/31) using the four genes. Pre-SARS-CoV-2 era controls (n=14) were negative. EBC was positive in NPS negative/clinically positive patients in 66.6% (10/15) using the identical E and S (E/S) gene assay used for NPS, 73.3% (11/15) using the N/ORF1ab assay and 14/15 (93.3%) combined.